Many telecommunication functions require computer users to connect to remote services to retrieve or transmit information. Increasingly, these remote services arc accessed using an asynchronous dial up connection. This class of functions may include, but is not limited to, dial up connections to the Internet, connections to bulletin boards, connections to internal and external databases and sending and receiving faxes. These functions are carried out during interactive, character-oriented communication sessions via a modem. This is typically known as outbound modem dialing.
To support remote login sessions, various computer manufacturers have developed facilities that allow their users to log in remotely from one computer to another. Within the Internet, the most commonly used method is a facility called "telnet," which is the name of the protocol used to support remote login sessions and also the name of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") remote login program. TCP/IP refers to the suite of protocols that define the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX.TM. operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer operating system. To be on the Internet, a computer must have TCP/IP software. The telnet protocol defines how local and remote computers talk to each other to support a remote login session. A more complete discussion of remote login using telnet is described in D. Dem, "The Internet Guide For New Users," pp. 247-67 (McGraw Hill 1994).
Many computer users are connected to the Internet by access servers on local area networks or enterprise networks. An example of an access server is model number (AS5200), commercially available from Cisco Systems, Inc. To help defer the cost of installing and maintaining additional phone lines, which may be used very little per user, many equipment manufacturers have added the ability to establish remote sessions on the outbound ports of access servers and routers. These remote sessions are supported by an embedded telnet protocol operating in conjunction with other communication software, such as a communication port director.
To support remote sessions via an access server, as opposed to a direct personal computer/remote service connection, the telnet protocol has undergone revision. The name and the result of the process for disseminating information about a proposed standard on the Internet is known as Request for Comments ("RFC"). The standards are currently proposed and published on-line at http:http://info.intcrnet.isi.edu/innotes/rfc/files/rfc2217.txt.
In RFC 2217, entitled "Telnet Com Port Control Option" and published in Oct. of 1997, the present inventor identified three new areas of functionality within the telnet protocol which needed updating to successfully support the needs of outbound modem dialing. A first new function is the ability for a client to send corn port configuration information to an access server which is connected to the outbound modem. This ensures that data transmitted and received by the modem is formatted correctly at the byte level. A second new function is the ability for an access server to inform a client of any modem line or signal changes, such as carrier detect (RLSD) changes. This information is vital, since many client software packages use this information to determine if a session with a remote service has been established. The third new function provides the ability to manage flow control between the client and the access server which does not interfere with the flow control mechanisms used by the session between the client and the remote service.
The first new function is carried out by causing a client and server to negotiate a corn port configuration by exchanging messages. The negotiation of the corn port control option protocol uses the standard telnet negotiation protocol mechanism. This mechanism involves the exchange of messages that request an action (a "DO" or "DON'T" messages) and messages that respond to such requests ("WILL" or "WON'T" messages). RFC 2217 identifies the following negotiation messages having the following meanings: EQU IAC WILL COM-PORT-OPTION
The sender of this command is willing to send corn port control option commands. EQU IAC WONT COM-PORT-OPTION
The sender of this command refuses to send corn port control option commands. EQU IAC DO COM-PORT-OPTION
The sender of this command is willing to accept corn port control option commands. EQU IAC DONT COM-PORT-OPTION
The sender of this command refuses to accept corn port control option commands.
The client can send these commands at any time and at multiple times throughout a telnet session. Each command transmitted from the client to the access server must be acknowledged once the command has been processed by the access server. This confirmation informs the client of the value set at the access server after the processing of the command. This acknowledgment is not used to acknowledge the receipt of the command, which is handled at the TCP protocol layer. Its purpose is to inform the client of the value in use, which may be different than the value requested in the client's command. For example, the client may request a baud rate higher than the access server can provide. If the client does not receive an acknowledgment within a reasonable time, the client may wish to re-send the command or terminate the session.
Once DO and WILL commands have been negotiated, the client may send any of the following Com-Port Control Option commands:
Client Access Command Name to Access Server Server to Client SIGNATURE Text Text SET-BAUDRATE 1 101 SET-DATASIZE 2 102 SET-PARITY 3 103 SET-STOPSIZE 4 104 SET-CONTROL 5 105 NOTIFY-LINESTATE 6 106 NOTIFY-MODEMSTATE 7 107 FLOWCONTROL-SUSPEND 8 108 FLOWCONTROL-RESUME 9 109 SET-LINESTATE-MASK 10 110 SET-MODEMSTATE-MASK 11 111 PURGE-DATA 12 112
The following format may be used to send the commands: IAC SB COM-PORT-OPTION COMMAND NAME&lt;value&gt;IAC SE or IAC SB COM-PORT-OPTION COMMAND NAME&lt;text&gt;IAC SE. "IAC" means Interpret As Command, and is defined for use in Telnet in RFC 854, character decimal code 255; "SB" means Subnegotiation Begin, and is defined for character code 250; "SE" means Subnegotiation End, and is defined for character code 240. The Command Name can be any one of those listed above with the appropriate value or text inserted.
If a client sends a command and there is no acknowledgment by the access server within a reasonable time, the client may wish to re-send the command or terminate the session to save system resources. Generally, a reasonable time period to re-send or terminate would be twice the delay acknowledgement ("delay ack") timer in TCP/IP If the delay ack timer is ten seconds, then the client would wait approximately 20 or 30 seconds before re-sending or terminating. This 20-30 second time period ensures that commands will not be re-sent or that the receiver will not be terminated unnecessarily in the event that the receiver is only slowing down or interrupted temporarily.
Unfortunately, when telnet operates as an embedded protocol to support remote TCP/IP sessions, there is no efficient way for either a client or an access server to know when a client or server at the opposite end of the connection has gone offline. In a past approach, a user would execute telnet using a terminal interface, so that the user could type commands to the telnet program and view responses by the remote system. In this past approach, there are visual cues to indicate when either the client or access server had gone off-line. If a user of the client, a PC user for example, depressed a key at the client machine and received no response, the user could surmise that the host had gone offline, and could thereafter terminate the session. Alternatively, the user could test whether the PC had stopped operating or crashed. In this context, a device is "off-line" when it is disconnected, crashed, or otherwise logically or physically unavailable.
When telnet is operated as an embedded protocol within an access server or router, however, there are no visual cues. The telnet program is executed by the access server or router within a network, but such devices do not provide a visual display to the end user when they are in operation. Currently, the only way to know whether the client or access server has gone off-line or become unavailable is to use a timeout mechanism. In some telnet systems, timeout code will disconnect the access server and client after a pre-defined period of inactivity. This approach is a waste of system resources, however, because the access servers and/or outbound modems are occupied and unavailable during this period. Maintaining a TCP/IP connection for an Internet activity using the telnet protocol, for example, ties up buffer space and control sources in operating systems on both ends. Most systems have limited resources, and it is undesirable to leave open connections where there is no communication. Leaving an open telnet connection can also be a security breach.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method or system that enables a client or server to know immediately when the other has gone off-line. With such a method or system, the connection could be terminated or a recovery option could be implemented immediately.
One solution is to create a new protocol to handle this situation. However, this approach is undesirable because of the burden associated with creating and obtaining approval for a new standard. It is desirable to have a method or system that does not require development of a new system protocol and that could use the available telnet protocol options. Further, it is desirable to have a method that would allow a client or access server to let the other know it is "alive" on a frequent basis without requiring an inordinate amount of system resources.